PHILADELPHIA – Twenty-five years after the Dodgers last ran into Philadelphia in a National League Championship Series, Gary Matthews Sr. was asked on Wednesday about his performance in that best-of-five set, which the Phillies won in four games. Matthews, who at the time was an aging outfielder widely thought to be in the twilight of his career, wound up the series’ Most Valuable Player after leading his veteran-laden (some would say old) club to an improbable World Series berth.

“Things just clicked,” said Matthews, now 58 and a Phillies broadcaster. “You never really know what is going to happen. You always feel going in that you’re going to have a good series, but you don’t know that. Things just went well for me. I had Mike Schmidt hitting behind me, so when I got to the plate, half my work was already done. Now, I just had to look for pitches I was able to hit and try to square them up.”

The point is, no one could have predicted that Matthews would thrash Dodgers pitching for a .429 average, three home runs and eight RBI in those four games. Along those lines, no one can predict what is going to happen beginning tonight, when the Dodgers and Phillies meet in their fourth NLCS – and first since that forgettable (for the Dodgers) 1983 series.

This best-of-seven matchup will feature no shortage of heroes, but who will they be? It will offer plenty of drama, but in what form?

One compelling storyline bubbled to the surface following the Dodgers’ official workout Wednesday. Takashi Saito, the once-dependable closer who has saved 81 games for the Dodgers over the past three seasons, is in danger of being left off the roster for this series because of a mechanical issue that has plagued him since he was activated from the disabled list on Sept. 13.

Saito struggled in his only division series appearance against Chicago, failing to retire any of the three batters he faced when he entered with a nine-run lead in Game 2, and he has lost the closer’s role to Jonathan Broxton.

“Right now, with the way Broxton pitched (in the Game 3 clincher), he certainly embraced that opportunity,” Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. “Right now, I think Sammy (Saito) is fighting it a little bit. I don’t think there is anything physically wrong with him, but it just looks like he is trying to overthrow everything.”

Saito went to the bullpen with Torre and pitching coach Rick Honeycutt and threw a side session after the Dodgers’ workout. Saito’s immediate answer to his mechanical issue, which involves his balance when pitching out of the windup, is to scrap the windup altogether and pitch entirely out of the stretch. But that alone won’t get him a roster spot.

The Dodgers need to clear a roster spot for left-handed reliever Hong-Chih Kuo, whose elbow has been deemed physically sound.The addition of Kuo as a complement to Joe Beimel means rookie lefty Clayton Kershaw is a candidate to start Game 4.

Veteran right-hander Greg Maddux and Game 1 starter Derek Lowe, on three days’ rest, are the other possibilities. Lowe, Chad Billingsley and Hiroki Kuroda will start the first three games.

Beyond that, it’s anyone’s guess as to what will transpire over the next several days. There is no clear favorite, no underlying theme and no preconditions. Both clubs come in playing arguably their best baseball of the season. Both have potent lineups, deep rotations and dependable bullpens.